


Grapes

by Diamond_Raven



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, First Time, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-24
Updated: 2010-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-05 19:24:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diamond_Raven/pseuds/Diamond_Raven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which meals are shared, battle skills are practiced and friends become something more all with the aid of cheese and grapes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grapes

It started one morning when Arthur found he was still full from the feast the night before and only nibbled on his breakfast. Pushing the food away and gently patting his stomach, Arthur pushed his chair back.

Merlin glanced up from the wardrobe where he was putting away some freshly cleaned shirts. “Is that all you’re eating?”

Arthur waved a dismissive hand. “I’m still full from last night. Gods, I shouldn’t have eaten that much of the mutton.”

Merlin was still paused before the wardrobe, a shirt in one hand while he glanced between the leftover food and Arthur. “Can—may I – I mean, is it alright if I finished some of it?”

Arthur turned to his servant with a frown. “I thought you and Gaius both get meals sent to your rooms. Didn’t you have any breakfast?”

“Oh, no. I mean, yes, I did have breakfast. But that’s not why I asked. I just – well, I like food and I like to eat and well, the food the kitchen gives you is always tons better than anything anybody else gets and since you’re finished, I figured that maybe I can…”

Arthur rolled his eyes, finally understanding. “By all means, have at it.”

So the prince and his servant changed places and Arthur went to the wardrobe to grab the tunic Merlin had hung over the open door for him and Merlin sat on the prince’s fur lined chair and started devouring his abandoned breakfast.

Arthur couldn’t help but be silently amused by the grunts of approval and satisfied munching sounds coming from Merlin as he polished off Arthur’s breakfast. By the time Arthur had pulled on his tunic and fastened his sword around his waist, Merlin was already finished and standing before him, tugging his collar straight and yanking the belt around until it looked proper.

*          *          *

Before long Arthur started to order two sets of meals for his room whenever he knew Merlin would be there while he was eating. He’d discreetly checked with the kitchens and had been assured that both Merlin and Gaius were getting the same servant meals that all the other servants got. So his servant wasn’t starving by any means. Like he’d told Arthur, he merely liked food and loved to eat.

This turned out to be something they had in common. At the beginning of their acquaintance, they had barely had anything in common, never mind anything which they could talk about, but food was the one commonality which they could both discuss. Even if Arthur told Merlin about a type of food which he’d never seen before, he was quick enough to thoroughly appreciate it once Arthur described it for him.

Arthur had never particularly enjoyed meal times before, but now that he had somebody to share them with he very much looked forward to the calm, relaxing times during the day when it was just him, Merlin, and plates of food between them.

They happily munched through soft breads, thick sausages, juicy meats that practically fell off the bone, hardy flavored cheeses of all shades of yellow and orange and always finished things off with whatever fruit the kitchen staff had prepared.

“What’s this fruit called?” Merlin mumbled through a mouthful of bread and chicken, pointing at the fruit plate with a finger.

Arthur took a swig of water and swallowed his own mouthful before answering. “Grapes, you bumpkin. Have you really never heard of grapes before?”

Merlin shrugged, always unconcerned about such things. “I’ve heard the name before and I’ve seen you eat them but I’ve never put the two things together. Grapes, huh? How do you eat them?”

Merlin had been asking this question ever since the incident with the cherry, when he’d nearly broken his own tooth trying to bite straight through it. Aside from the fact that Arthur had been slightly alarmed at the thought of Merlin actually having hurt himself, once they’d determined that the idiot would just have a sore tooth, Arthur had nearly laughed himself sick.

“Some of them have seeds in them. They’re not very large and there are usually two in each. They’re quite tough so just spit them out and try not to have a repeat of the cherry debacle, alright?””

Merlin nodded and frowned, pulling a grape off the bunch lying on the plate between them and brought it closer for inspection. “It’s an odd color.”

“They’re either green or purple.”

Merlin brought the grape so close to his eye that Arthur had to grip his armrest to resist the childish urge to shove his hand into his face. That would be one of the many things on the list of things his father called ‘unbecoming of a future king’. “It’s a reddish purple.”

“Fine, whatever, reddish purple. Do you want my last piece of cheese?”

Merlin nodded eagerly and started reaching across the table to grab it off Arthur’s plate. Arthur grinned and snatched the cheese out of his reach. “Hasn’t anybody ever told you it’s rude to grab things off a prince’s plate?”

“Hasn’t anybody ever told you it’s rude to offer something and then snatch it away? Besides, you can’t uphold rules which you’ve never enforced before. That’s not just rude, it’s unprincely.”

Arthur twisted the chunk of cheese between his fingers. “You know, it’s just occurred to me that we had to miss our practice session this week.”

“It’s not my fault your father scheduled that council meeting right when we usually practice.”

“I’m sure you were really upset by that.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and popped a grape into his mouth. “I was inconsolable the whole day. I’m sure you remember.” He bit into the grape and grinned at the sweet juices that filled his mouth. Moving his tongue around, he found the two tiny seeds inside it and leaned forward to spit them onto his plate.

“Oh, I do. I’m sure even your mother heard your weeping. Anyway, since we missed our session, we should still practice some of your battle skills.”

Merlin slumped back in his chair and groaned. “We just ate. I can’t even move.”

“Did I say anything about going outside?” Arthur shot him a mischievous grin and leaned forward in his chair. Breaking a small piece of cheese off, he propped his elbow on the table. “You want the cheese, you’ll have to catch it.”

Swallowing the last of the grape, Merlin mirrored Arthur’s grin and leaned forward. “Alright.”

“One rule, though. No hands.”

Merlin held up his hands and then laid them on the armrests of his chair. Arthur took careful aim with the cheese and then tossed it towards Merlin’s mouth. Merlin lunged forward and opened his mouth wider, but the cheese bounced off his nose and landed on the table.

“What on earth did you move for? I had it properly aimed!”

“It looked like it would fall short!” Merlin protested, leaned over the table and licked the piece of cheese into his mouth.

Arthur briefly stared at him and then shook his head as he broke off another small piece. “Alright, this time, don’t move!” He aimed again and Merlin sat back, mouth open and eyes staring at Arthur’s hand. Merlin forced himself not to move as Arthur tossed it towards him.

This time the piece went straight into his mouth. As Merlin happily munched, Arthur let out a triumphant shout and slammed a satisfied fist onto the table. “There, see?”

“Yes, yes, Sir Impeccable Aim. Let’s see you do it when you’re farther back from the table.”

So they tried it with Arthur sliding his chair farther and farther away from the table and eventually Merlin started moving his own chair back as well until they were half way across the room from each other.

The farther away they got from each other, the more times Arthur missed, loudly protesting Merlin’s adamant claims that he hadn’t moved a muscle.

The first time the piece of cheese landed on the floor, Merlin didn’t even think before he dove after it, licking it off the floor.

“Merlin! Eww, gods! The floor’s filthy!”

“I just washed it yesterday and the small bit of dirt from your boots is hardly going to kill me. I’m not going to let the cheese go to waste just because it’s a little dirty.”

Arthur muttered something about peasants, to which Merlin stuck his tongue at out at him.

“Did you just stick your tongue out at me?”

“Yes. Are you going to throw that cheese or have you decided you can’t make this distance?”

Arthur glared at him, which prompted Merlin to repeat his question with a cheeky ‘my Lord’ tacked on to the end of it.

After Arthur had successfully gotten a piece into Merlin’s mouth, he decided it was time to switch and it was Merlin’s turn to throw. “After all, it’s your aim we have to work on, remember?”

So they scooted their chairs closer to the table again and Merlin took careful aim with a bit of cheese while Arthur opened his mouth and leaned back.

Merlin’s first shot fell quite short and the cheese landed on the table.

“What on earth was that?! A mouse can throw farther than that!”

Merlin waved a hand at him as he picked the piece of cheese off the table and stuck it into his mouth.

“I was just testing the—the—the—flying ability of the cheese. Yes. I have to get the feel for it first.”

Arthur had been about to lean back and open his mouth for the second try when he burst out laughing and Merlin tapped his foot and rolled the next piece of cheese between his fingers as he waited for the prince to stop laughing.

“Alright…alright…I’m ready,” Arthur managed to gasp out. He leaned back and opened his mouth, still chuckling. “Do you have the feel for it, yet?”

“Stop talking, you’ll interfere with my aim. And stop laughing. How am I supposed to aim right if the target is jerking all about? Honestly!”

His second try also went wide, bouncing off Arthur’s forehead and hitting the floor. As Merlin picked up the cheese, Arthur decided that perhaps they had to start with Merlin standing right before him.

So Merlin took careful aim as he stood toe to toe with a sitting Arthur and managed to toss it the tiny distance into Arthur’s mouth.

“Yes!” Merlin shouted.

“Congratulations. If I ever depend on you to throw a knife at somebody trying to kill me, I’ll simply ask them to stop moving and let you get within an inch of them first and then do it.” But Arthur was grinning at him as he said it so Merlin ignored the sarcasm.

They soon ran out of cheese and started using grapes instead. They were now taking turns throwing and catching and Merlin was actually getting better at aiming and getting the grape into Arthur’s mouth.

Finally, they were down to the last grape. It was Merlin’s turn to throw and Arthur gave him a stern look. “You better get this one in, Merlin. I’m not eating it off the floor but I’ve only gotten to eat a few of these due to somebody’s terrible aim.”

“You could have eaten however many you wanted if you didn’t insist we practice my ‘battle skills’ at this very moment.”

“Shut up and concentrate on your aim.”

Frowning, Merlin leaned forward and carefully aimed the grape and then tossed it towards Arthur’s open mouth. The grape bounced off Arthur’s cheek and despite the prince madly shifting around and trying to get it to stay in his lap without using hands, the grape still rolled off and landed on the floor.

Merlin let out a curse while Arthur let out a loud groan. “Merlin! That was the last grape, damn it!”

“Sorry, sorry! Damn it! I had it aimed so perfectly too. Why couldn’t you bloody well move that tiny bit to the left?”

“We’ve gone over this a million times, Merlin. The enemy won’t situate themselves in a position to please you.”

Getting off his chair, Merlin knelt down beside Arthur’s chair and picked up the grape with his teeth. Arthur shot him a mulish look as Merlin swirled the grape around in his mouth.

Rolling his eyes, Merlin made sure every bit of dust was off the grape and then gently held it between his front teeth, careful not to break the skin.

“You still want your grape? I got all the dirt off it,” he muttered, mindful of how fragile the grape was between his teeth.

Arthur shot him a look. “It’s probably still filthy.”

Merlin huffed in annoyance and stepped in front of Arthur’s chair, bending down and gently rotating the grape between his teeth with his tongue. “Clean, see? Unless you’re offended by servant slobber.” His voice was muffled, and Arthur was about to make some pithy comment about Merlin being quite good at speaking with a full mouth, but Arthur kept getting distracted by that damn grape.

Arthur followed the fruit between Merlin’s teeth with his eyes, the skin shiny and slick with Merlin’s saliva. His eyes darted up to Merlin’s, who was looking at him steadily, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Fine. Hand it over.”

Merlin paused and leaned down, bracing his hands on the armrests beside Arthur’s own arms. “No hands, remember?”

Arthur’s gaze dropped to Merlin’s mouth again and swallowed hard, very much aware of how close they were. Without having noticed it, Arthur’s knees had moved apart and Merlin had moved into the space between them. Merlin was shifting slightly, his own thighs brushing against Arthur’s.

Arthur found himself transfixed by Merlin’s scent surrounding him, the perfect slick grape between Merlin’s lips and those blue eyes staring at him steadily, waiting for him to make a move.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t be the one to make the first move. They were still standing in the territory of a friendly game, poised on the edge of something more. But Arthur couldn’t be the one who took the first step over the edge. Merlin was paid to do whatever Arthur told him and follow wherever Arthur led. This was not something Arthur wanted Merlin to feel obliged about.

He took a shaky breath, aware of how tight his trousers had become. Merlin was still patiently staring at him, their thighs brushing with a whisper of fabric every time he shifted. Arthur tightened his grip on the armrests, knowing that if he let go and had misread the signs, things could go very bad very quickly.

“This—this was technically the last grape. You missed so our practice session is technically over. We could use hands if you wanted.” Arthur became aware of the fact that he was whispering, so afraid of shattering this moment, of saying the wrong thing and making it all go to hell.

Merlin’s lips curled into a slight grin as he leaned even closer so Arthur could feel his breath on his own lips. “I’d like to give you the grape without hands. If that’s what you want.”

Arthur’s hands ached from their grip on the armrests and he cleared his throat before managing to find his voice, forcing himself to look into Merlin’s eyes and keep his eyes off his lips and the grape.

“It is. But it—it has to be something you want to do too. For the right reasons.”

“And what reasons would those be?” Merlin was whispering too.

“Because you want to for you. Not because you feel you have to.”

“I know I don’t have to. You said the practice session is over. If I wanted to, I could eat this grape and go tidy up our dishes. But I’d rather give you this grape.”

“Who would you be giving the grape to?”

Merlin rolled his eyes and huffed a quiet laugh. “Oh, you sorry sod. I don’t need to give Prince Arthur grapes. He can just call any other servant to get him grapes, can’t he? I want to give Arthur a grape. Just Arthur.”

Arthur was barely remembering to breathe, wanting so badly to reach out and touch and lose himself in everything that Merlin was.

“You’re—you’re sure?”

In response, Merlin shifted a little bit closer to him and pressed his groin right against Arthur’s. Pleasure shot up Arthur’s spine when he felt that Merlin was just as hard as he was. He gasped and his head fell back against the back of the chair, his hips already moving, grinding his hardness into Merlin’s.

Merlin let out a groan and let his forehead drop against Arthur’s, staring down at him.

“You bet I’m sure,” he whispered.

Merlin’s lips were so close to his own that Arthur could practically taste his words. He focused on the grape between his teeth.

“There are – there are – Gods – there are seeds in there.”

Merlin leaned even closer and brushed the grape against Arthur’s slightly parted lips. “Yes. We’ll have to be careful,” he whispered in a shaky voice.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

That was when Arthur closed the tiny gap between their lips and licked over Merlin’s lips and teeth before feeling Merlin pushing the grape into his mouth with his tongue. As Arthur bit the grape in half, Merlin’s lips caught his before his tongue was back, licking at Arthur’s lips. He let Merlin’s tongue back into his mouth, hearing Merlin moaning at the taste of the grape.

Arthur’s hands had somehow gotten loose from the chair and one of them tangled in Merlin’s hair, tilting his head so they could explore each other’s mouths better, while the other hand grabbed the back of Merlin’s tunic and pulled him right into Arthur’s lap.

After a few moments, Arthur panted out a “Wait, wait, hang on” and turned his head away from Merlin to spit two seeds on to the floor. When Merlin dove back for his mouth, Arthur pushed half of the grape back into Merlin’s mouth before resuming the kiss, both of them tasting like sweet grapes.

“See?” Merlin murmured against his lips. “We can handle the seeds.”

Smiling, Arthur slid a hand beneath Merlin’s tunic and shirt, touching the soft skin of his back. “Yes. Yes, we can.”


End file.
